12-17-17

I have not been out fishing much lately due to deer hunting and being pressed back into service to help out with my former job in aerospace due to some medical issues of some of my coworkers. I managed to get out Saturday 12-16-17 and the water in relation to clarity is in good shape. The temperature however is about 46 degrees in the main river and at the mouths of the creeks and the Harpeth River and cooling quickly as you go further up the creeks. Sycamore Creek is 46 degrees at the mouth and all the way down to 42 degrees by the boat ramp. The Harpeth River is the same way. Since bass are cold blooded creatures and their body temperature is the same as the water they are in, 4 degrees can be significant this time of year. I saw some limited shad and fish activity near the mouth of Sycamore Creek deep in the channel but I saw much more in the main lake. Since the fish and shad are not as active it is critical to use your electronics to find the concentrations of them to be more efficient. My lure choices will also be effected more spot specific to tools such as dropshots, jigging spoons etc. This does not mean that you can’t catch them on other lures but these have been the most effective for me under these conditions. The good news is that once you find them this time of year they are often schooled up and therefore easier to catch. I found a large school of fish yesterday in the main lake in 18 ft. of water on a major breakline around a very large stump and it was very easy to catch them on a dropshot.